The PC Gaming Alliance announces the results of a study they commissioned to assess the state of PC gaming. The study attempts to encompass all data, including retail, digital distribution, and digital point cards, and their results show the PC gaming market growing, rather than shrinking as other studies have suggested. They say: "Among the key findings: the global PC games market continues to show surprisingly strong growth in 2010, reaching a record $16.2 billion. This represented overall growth of 20% over 2009. No geographical market segments tracked showed a decline in 2010 in overall PC game revenue." This evaluation also looks to the future, and they project growth through 2014:

“The spotlight has definitely shifted back to the PC game market. A few of the biggest factors fueling this movement are innovative business models making games more accessible with digital distribution, free to play, and online; along with game formats embracing the shifts occurring in the evolution of the PC ecosystem to remain more profitable,” said Matt Ployhar, PCGA president and Intel analyst. "Large game publishers are looking at digital revenue on the PC game platform as one of their key areas of growth and it is clear that the performance of the PC game market in 2010 is resulting in substantial investment money flowing into the PC game business."

The report concludes that the PC game business will continue to grow at a pace of 9% CAGR to $23 billion by 2014. Most of this growth will be driven by the increasing ease of digital distribution delivery solutions and payment methods. According to DFC analyst David Cole "right now, outside of direct publisher digital distribution, Valve's Steam service dominates delivery of large client size games. However, this is likely to change as other premium players enter the market for digital distribution.”